Psalms of Grateful Praise

August 14, 2019 / By

There are various kinds of Psalms.  1 Chronicles 16:4 gives insight into a possible three-fold identification of the Psalms (and definitely a three-fold job description for ministers).

 

4 Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel.

Hymns of Praise

  1. Hymns of Praise: General Praise  –    Celebrating the attributes of God
  2. Hymns of Praise: Grateful Praise –    Thanksgiving for what God has done for us

 

Bruce Waltke understands the Psalms of Grateful Praise to flow through a three-component motif (a recurrent thematic element).

 

  1. Introductory call to praise                     match that ignites the fire
  • Because it is fitting and right
  • In the imperative mood
  • Spirit of enthusiasm
  1. The cause for praise                                Fuel that is lit up
  2. Renewed call to praise Hallelujah

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=psalms+lecture+7+waltke&&view=detail&mid=C7425236FA2192713C0CC7425236FA2192713C0C&&FORM=VRDGAR

 

Psalm 117  (The shortest Psalm)

 

Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!		 The Call to Praise
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.		 The Cause for Praise
Praise the Lord! Renewed Call to Praise:  The Hallelujah

 

Psalm 95

 

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

  

The Call to Praise
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.		 The Cause for Praise
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!		 The Call to Praise
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
8     do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.”

 

 The Cause of Praise

 

Psalm 100

 

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2     Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing.		 The Call to Praise
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

 

 The Cause of Praise
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

 

 The Call to Praise
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

 

 The Cause of Praise

 

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!		 The Call to Praise
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?  Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings[b] and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

 The Cause of Praise
9 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!		 The Renewed Call to Praise